The invention relates to data transfer through computer networks and, in particular, to a mechanism by which policies of an organization can be enforced upon packages of data files delivered on behalf of members of the organization.
The Internet has grown tremendously in recent years, both in terms of number of users and the amount of data transferred through the Internet. Originally, the Internet was a data transfer medium for academia. Eventually, engineers and private users increasingly used and became more familiar with the Internet. More and more, the Internet is becoming an acceptable communication medium for business. However, business users demand more confidentiality and traceability of communication than do private users engaging in personal correspondence. In addition, business organizations have a strong interest in protecting confidential material and ensuring secrecy and propriety of communications of employees.
Business users often communicate sensitive, confidential, and proprietary information and, accordingly, expect such communication to be secure from unauthorized eavesdropping. In addition, business users expect to be able to store records tracing correspondence. Accordingly, to provide a medium for business communication, Internet-based communication must be made secure and traceable. In addition, inappropriate use by employees of employer-supplied communications through the Internet can harm the employer in a number of ways. For example, employees can breach the employer""s security through unauthorized disclosure of confidential documents. In addition, employees can abuse such employer-supplied communication for personal benefit resulting in excessive use of costly resources. Furthermore, communications of an inappropriate nature, e.g., sexually explicit materials, or communications containing malicious computer instructions can potentially result in legal liability of the employer.
What is needed is a secure, traceable data file delivery system in which policies of an organization can be enforced against members of the organization as senders of such data files.
In accordance with the present invention, a server interacts with a sender to form a package which can include one or more attached data files to be sent to one or more recipients, and the server applies a policy established by a policy authority of the sender to the package. The policy authority of the sender is an entity authorized to establish policy for the sender and is typically the entity which provides the sender with access to the package delivery system in which the policy is enforced. The sender""s policy authority can be the sender""s employer, for example. Since the server both forms the package through interaction with the sender and applies the policy, any violations of the policy by the package can be brought to the sender""s attention during an interactive session with the sender. As a result, the sender is educated regarding the policy of the sender""s policy authority, and the sender can modify the package immediately to comport with the policy.
An additional advantage is realized by a particular embodiment in which the sender interacts with the server through HTTP/HTTPS and the World Wide Web. Specifically, the sender can form a package from any computer system coupled to the ubiquitous networkxe2x80x94including a computer at the sender""s office, a computer at the sender""s home, a publicly available computer at a public library, a rented computer at a copy/printing service center, or publicly installed Internet kiosks (e.g.,  greater than STREETSPACE kiosksxe2x80x94http://www.streetspace.com). Regardless which computer the sender uses to create a package, the policy of the sender""s policy authority is applied to the package. Such is important since the recipient of such a package generally cannot perceive from the package itself which of the computers was used by the sender to create the package and the sender can be presumed, by such a recipient, to be sending the package from the sender""s office and therefore acting with the tacit approval of the sender""s policy authority.
In addition to forming the package through interaction with the sender and applying policy to the package, the server delivers the package to the one or more intended recipients. Such delivery includes sending notification to each recipient and including in such notification package identification data, e.g., a URL by which the package can be retrieved. Each recipient submits the package identification data to the server and, in response thereto, the server presents to the requesting recipient the opportunity to retrieve the package. The notification message can be sent as e-mail via SMTP, and the package identification can be received by the server as a URL through HTTP.
The policy of the policy authority can be specified as a list of associations between one or more conditions and one or more actions to be carried out upon satisfaction of the associated conditions. Each condition includes a boolean expression involving one or more sender attributes, recipient attributes, package attributes, and/or environmental attributes. Sender and recipient attributes can include regular expressions involving e-mail addresses by which each is specified or can include attributes of user records specifying each. User record attributes can be particularly useful in categorizing the sender and the recipients as belonging to particular divisions within the policy authority, although it is appreciated that e-mail addresses can sometimes provide similar information.
Package attributes include message attributes, delivery attributes, post delivery attributes, and attached data files. Message attributes include a subject and a message body. Conditions involving message attributes can be used to detect private and confidential information in a package and/or inappropriate content such as sexually explicit language. Delivery attributes include such things as package delivery priority, security options, and delivery timing. Conditions involving delivery attributes can detect packages using options which are below a desirable level of security or which result in excessive cost to the policy authority. Post delivery attributes specify actions a recipient can take with respect to the received package including replying to the sender of the package, replying to the sender of the package at the expense of the sender, forwarding the package to one or more other recipients, saving the package to local persistent storage, and printing the contents of the package. Each post delivery attribute can involve a security risk and/or extra cost to the policy authority. Accordingly, conditions can be configured to detect specific uses of post delivery attributes. Attached data files can include confidential information, can include inappropriate material, can be excessive in size (and therefore excessive in cost to the policy authority), and can include malicious computer instructions in the form of viruses or Trojan horses for example. Conditions can detect specific conditions of data files attached to the package.
Actions can interrupt delivery of the package, log handling of the package, or modify the package. Examples of interupting actions include blocking delivery of the package outright, blocking the package pending review by the policy authority, or delaying delivery of the package. Logging actions can include; for example, saving a copy of the package, sending a copy of the package to a predetermined recipient, and notifying a predetermined entity (perhaps the sender) of another action taken with respect to the package. Modification actions can modify the package by changing the subject, the message, delivery attributes, post delivery attributes, and the attached data files. For example, all attached data files can be removed or only those attached data files which satisfy a particular set of conditions can be removed.